He secured the case and exited the room to an empty hallway. He tramped down the stairs and glided out the front door unnoticed. Four kilometers was not that far, and he decided to walk. He stayed away from the well-traveled areas, and an hour later, he spotted the villa where Andri was staying. It was hard not to miss, since Mohsen had parked a large, brash, rented Mercedes in the front. It stuck out like a white elephant on a street lined with poor fishermen’s homes. It must be hard for rich people to go unnoticed, thought George. He reminded himself that Mohsen wasn’t a spook, and this wasn’t the first rule of the spy game he had broken. To be undercover to Mohsen only meant to shed his uniform, not his personality. He was too easy to find.
The house seemed empty, and the dock in the back was bare. There was an abandoned two-story boathouse across from the lodge, and George slipped inside. The skeletons of unfinished fishing boats were strewn across the boathouse floor. He made his way to the loft and then to the rooftop. On the roof, he had an unobstructed view of the apartment. There was nothing left for him to do but linger behind a one-meter retaining wall and wait for the meeting to reveal itself.
The tourist boat chugged slowly to the dock. Gracefully Andri glided it to a smooth landing. It had been another thin load, and the passengers disembarked quickly to look for their next excursion. George easily picked out Mohsen from the crowd. To his surprise, he had dropped his robes in favor of casual wear. The two men strolled from the dock to the Mercedes, and Mohsen got in. After a few minutes of conversing, he drove away. Andri climbed the stairs to his flat and plopped down on the couch in front of the picture window in his living room.
Good idea. A little nap would suit me fine, thought George. It didn’t take long for him to doze off. He laid his head on his arm and stretched out in the afternoon sun and slept.
CHAPTER FIVE
Everything Is for Sale
A nearby passing trawler sounded its horn and woke George. For that matter, it woke Andri. It was four thirty in the afternoon, and George still anticipated a long night. He hoped Stemovich didn’t get the urge to leave.
After peeking over the wall, he observed Andri scrambling to get his place in order. George had put himself in an excellent position. He could see directly through the doors and into his whole apartment. The main room was sparsely decorated. It consisted of two chairs, a desk, and a short couch. Two French doors were the entrance, with a picture window accompanying them to the side. Farther back was the kitchen, and off to the left seemed to be the bathroom. He could almost see it all, which meant if the doors were left open he could hear most of it too.
It was three more hours before Mohsen returned in his Mercedes. George was confident that he was going to be able to spend the night on the roof and took comfort in the fact that he would probably find out what the surreptitious meeting was about. Then he’d be able to return home and glide into a smooth retirement.
Andri exited his flat to greet Mohsen, and George could clearly hear their exchange of pleasantries. He had anticipated that the men would speak in Arabic, but to his surprise they both jumbled through fairly good English. Neither man knew the other’s native tongue, so they relied on a third.
He hustled to set up the LSALD. Four times over his career he had requested this specific piece of equipment, and four times it had missed delivery. It was of some concern to him, in the back of his mind, that the company thought enough of this situation to make sure he had all the support he had asked for.
The LSALD had been streamlined since his last encounter with it in training. It now was compact and resembled a rifle. The case contained several components. It had headphones and a thumb drive. It came with a very sensitive shotgun microphone that could hear whispers at two hundred yards; but the main component of the LSALD was the infrared light beam, which exited a tube labeled “cannon.” The cannon came equipped with a miniscule oscillator to interpret the quiver of the light beam when sound waves vibrated against glass during normal conversations. The whole thing weighed no more than five pounds and fit snugly in its case with its aluminum tripod and infrared goggles.
The theory behind the LSALD was to capture conversations behind closed doors. Scientists found that sound waves had the ability to make certain surfaces vibrate when the sound from a conversation bounced against them. Engineers surmised that a steady beam of light reflected from the surface would quiver when the surface shook from sound, no matter how infinitesimal. The oscillator in the cannon measured the vibration of the light when the glass trembled and translated the pitch into audible conversation. It was the high-tech equivalent to the string-and-can telephone George used to make as a kid to talk with his friends across the fence in his backyard.
To George’s chagrin, Andri closed the French doors to his apartment after Mohsen entered. He could see them clearly, and it looked as if they were making themselves at home in the front room. He unhooked the shotgun microphone and laid it back in the case. After donning the goggles, he switched on the cannon and shot the beam directly at the center of the picture window. Andri got Mohsen something to drink, and then both men sat in the two chairs occupying the room. George removed the goggles and began taping. He thought it might be a while, so he pulled on the headphones and made himself comfortable behind the wall.
Okay, boys. Tell me your little secret, he thought. The LSALD worked perfectly. As George listened, he realized that the world would no longer remain the same if these men were allowed to accomplish what they discussed.
“Can I get you something else?” Andri was trying to make him feel comfortable.
“I’m quite fine,” replied Mohsen.
Andri was a little nervous. Mohsen had been in contact with him through various channels over the past four months. He knew the Kuwaiti wanted something from him, and he had an idea of what that could be, but he didn’t want to leave anything to chance.
“I’m glad you finally had the opportunity to travel north and visit this little island.” He didn’t know where to start the conversation, and he didn’t want to rush it, but Andri tended to be impatient by nature.
“As you have guessed, I’m here on business that could concern you. The bonus for me is that you happen to live in a most desirable area. A great place for a holiday.”
“I’ve got the impression that your business has a considerable amount to do with me.” Andri wanted to stick to the subject.
“That remains to be seen.”
Whatever Mohsen had to say, he wasn’t going to say it until he felt comfortable. Andri became a little flustered and thought Mohsen smug. He pressed the issue. “And that business is…?”
“It’s you, Andri.” Mohsen relented. “I’ve watched you all day, and I can help change your life.”
Andri was careful of anyone bearing gifts. “Of course you will want — no, expect — something in return.”
Mohsen nodded approvingly. He was witness to the low estate to which the brilliant engineer had been reduced. To drop from building the world’s most sophisticated ships to piloting local tours was incomprehensible and embarrassing, not to mention a gross waste of talent. “I’m here to make you an offer on behalf of the emir.”